being labeled deviant. The answer lies in the fact that those who have the power can
make us believe that the rules are “natural” and “good” to mask their political agenda.
They can then label actors and acts deviant to justify inequalities in gender, sexual
orientation, race, ethnicity, and social class (Daly, 1989; Daly and Chesney-Lind,
1988; Goode, 2005; Hagan and Peterson, 1995; Lang, 2002).
In a classic study of a suburban high school, there were two “gangs” of boys,
what the researcher called the “Saints” and the “Roughnecks.” The Roughnecks were
working-class boys, who were in the vocational track and not college bound. Teach-
ers thought of them as deviant, and they wore clothing styles like those in the
movieGrease—black leather jackets, jeans, and white T-shirts. They were known to
commit petty crimes and were called “hooligans” by the school administrators.
The “Saints,” by contrast, were middle-class boys, and they dressed the part—crew
cuts, button-down “preppy” shirts, and penny loafers. They played sports, were
popular, and were headed for college. They also spent their weekends breaking into
people’s homes and committing serious burglaries. But they were not considered
deviant because they were “wholesome” and middle class (Chambliss, 2000).
Ironically, the relationship of inequality and deviance often leads us to see and
punish the behaviors of the less fortunate and forgive the behavior of the more
fortunate. From this perspective, it is more likely that a poor person who stole a few
dollars from a company would end up in jail than a CEO who steals millions of
dollars from millions of shareholders.Deviance and Crime
Most theories of deviance also apply to crime, which is simply a legally regulated form
of extreme deviance. Crimecan be defined as any act that violates a formal norma-
tive code that has been enacted by a legally constituted body. Simple violation of a
more or folkway may not be a crime, unless you violate a formal code. Likewise, you
can commit a crime (actually break a law) and not be seen as deviant if other people
see your act as acceptable. Sometimes, people commit crimes and are seen as heroes,
like Robin Hood.
Some crimes are defined by being bad in and of themselves—bad because they
violate formal group norms—like homicide, rape, or assault. Other crimes are not as
obvious violations of group norms and are considered bad mostly because they have
been prohibited. In some cultures or contexts they might not be crimes at all, but
because they are illegal, they are crimes.
For example, smoking marijuana is illegal in the
United States, yet public opinion polls show many Amer-
icans don’t see it as “bad” at all times and favor its legal
use for medical purposes. Internationally, some countries,
including Japan, Thailand, and Hondoras, maintain strict
laws against pot use for any reason, while others, have
more relaxed attitudes about pot use, especially for med-
ical purposes. In the Netherlands, pharmacies have been
legally obliged to stock and dispense medical marijuana
since 2003.
The efforts to control and punish crime have become
so extensive and the institutions that have developed—
prisons, courts, police, to name a few—so large, that the178 CHAPTER 6DEVIANCE AND CRIMEReligious observance, medical
therapy or crime? Different
cultural groups construct some
behaviors differently, as these
participants at a pot festival
might attest. But who gets to
decide if they go to jail? n